Method of oiling roads, levees, &amp;c.



No. 790,403. PATENTED MAY'ZS, 1905. I. E. SMITH.

METHOD OF OILING ROADS, LEVI-1B8, &0.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 23. 1905.

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. ES "47% xmlxm 4 I lbbomw4g IRA E. SMITH, OF SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR or ONE-THIRD Patented. May 23, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

TO JAMES W. MOSHER- AND ONE-THIRD TO EDWARD S. MOSI-IER, OF

BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA.

METHOD OF OILING ROADS, LEVEES, 62.0.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 790,403, dated May 23, 1905.

' Application filed February 23, 1905. Serial No. 246,812.

To all whom, it may concern.-

I Be it known that I, IRA E. SMITH, acitizen of the United States, residing at Sacramento, in the county of Sacramento and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Oi ling' Roads, "Levees, &c.; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to use the same, reference being had for illustration to the accompanying drawing, and the'characters of reference marked thereon, which forms a part of this specification.

My invention relates to the method of ap-' plying crude petroleum-oil or maltha to levees, roads, &c.; and it consists in the improved and useful adaptation of old and new mechanical constructions for applying the oil upon the surfaces to be oiled.

The objects of my invention are as follows: First. To produce such a method of oiling levees and roads as will do away with the necessity of applying the oil by the use of sprinkling-wagons drawn by horse-power, which is very difficult, especially on levees and roads constructed entirely of sand and where there is small room for the handling of the horses.

Another object is to produce a method by which the sides of the levees may be oiled, which of course is almost impossible with horse-drawn wagons.

Second. To produce a method by which after the operation of applying the oil is completed the surface will remain smooth and even as before without the further use of other implements.

Third. To produce a method by which any desired amount of oil can be applied at one operation without going over the levee or road to be oiled more than once. 7

Fourth. To produce a method by which the oil can be forced into the surface to any desired depth and at the same time while the oil is hot thoroughly incorporate it with the material of which the levee, road, &c., is constructed.

These objects I accomplish by the peculiar adaptation of mechanical constructions, of which the accompanyingdrawin g gives a brief illustration for the purpose of aiding in set ting forth the operation and benefits of my improved method.

In the drawing, 1 represents the top of the levee, and 2 the sloping sides thereof.

3- designates the water-line of a river or other waterway.

4 is abarge or other floating vessel suitably moored to the levee, and 5 represents oil-tanks, under which are located suitable heaters.

6 is a'force-pump connected to the tanks 5 by means of pipes 7 and to the water by means of a pipe 8. The pipes 7 are provided -with stop-cocks 7- and the pipe 8 with a stopcock 8. v i

9 is a hose connected to the pump 6, and 10 is a pipe connected to said hose by suitable couplings and extending up to the top of the levees. Y

11, 12,13, and 1 1 are suitable equal lengths of pipe connected to the pipe 10 at right angles and extending along the top of the levee to any desireddistance. of pipe is a three-way valve 15.

16 represents hose provided with suitable couplings and joints and adapted to be connected to the valves Said hose are pro- 'vided with nozzles 17.

The method of using this mechanical constructionfor the purpose of oiling surfaces is as follows: The surface to be oiled is loosened to a desired depth. The oil in one of the tanks 5 is then heated to almost the boilingpoint, and the pump 6 is used to force this hot oil up through the hose 9 and pipe 10 into the pipe 11. The valve 15 is set so. that the .oil will turn into the hose 16. The operator grasps the nozzle 17 and holds the end of the same close to the surface, and the oil is forced" down to the bottom of the loosened surface. The hose 16 is just long enough so that it will reach the distance equal to the length of one of the sections of pipe, so that with one hose a distance equal to two lengths of hose will be oiled. In practice I provide two or more of said hoses 16, so that while one is being used the others can be fastened onto the next valves. When the oil in one tank is all used up, then the stop-cock 7 a is shut ofl? and the oil taken from the other tank, and while that is being done then the other tank is filled and heated.

The operation of oiling is always commenced at the end of the pipe on top of the levee nearest the barge and proceeds toward the end of the pipe farthest from the barge. This operation prevents any cold oil remaining in the pipe-line. No oil is ever allowed to stand in any part of the pipe-line for any length of time, as it would get cold, and thereby clog the line.

When it comes time to shut down for dinner, or at any other time, both the stop-cocks 7 are closed and the stop-cock 8 is opened and water is pumped through all the apparatus until it is all clear of oil. This I find to be an excellent way of keeping the apparatus from getting clogged.

When one stretch of surface is oiled, then the pipes are disconnected from the pump and hauled by suitable power to the next point, and the barge is moved correspondingly.

My method is particularly advantageous in the oilingof levees, for the reason that it is very hard to oil them with sprinkling-wagons drawn by horse-power, as it is hard to manipulate the same in the limited space, and especially on levees constructedentirely of sand. Where wagons are used for this work, they have to be constructed specially for the work, having tires from twelve to eighteen inches in width to hold up the load on the sand and from twelve to fourteen horses to pull a load weighing from three to four tons.

Another great advantage of my method is that it reduces the'cost of oiling surfaces, as I. have found by experience that by the use of my method it costs fifteen dollars "to apply four hundred barrels of oil, (a days work,) while under the old style method it cost twenty-one dollars to apply one hundred and twenty-five barrels of oil, (a days work.)

The greatest objections I have found in using sprinkling-wagons are that they are too expensive to operate, the Wagon-tires being too wide of necessity, that they tear up the surface and make it rough and uneven, suflicient oil cannot be applied with one application, the

limited space in which to operate a large number of horses, and the small amount of oil that can be applied in one day.

I have now entered into a detailed description of the present and preferred embodiment of my improved method of oiling roads, levees, &c. I do not wish, however, to be understood as confining myself to such specific detail, as such changes and modifications may be made in practice as fairly fall within the scope of my claims.

The mechanical construction used in connection with my improved method will be made the subject of another patent application by me.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful, and desire to soon re by Letters Patent, is

1. The method of oiling levees, consisting essentially of loosening the surface thereof and forcing oil therein, as set forth.

2. The herein-described method of treating roads, levees, &c., consisting essentially of loosening the top soil thereof and forcing hot oil therein, as set forth.

3. The method of treating the surface of levees, roads, &c., consisting essentially of heating oil to nearly the boiling-point and pumping the same upon the surface of said roads, levees, &c., as set forth.

4. The method of oiling roads, levees, &c.,

consisting essentially of heating the oil on board a barge or other floating device and pumping it therefrom upon the levee, road, or other place, as specified.

5. The method of oiling levees consisting essentially of heating the oil on board a barge or other floating device, pumping it through suitable pipes to the top of the levee, thence through section-pipes provided with valves at equal points apart, thence through a hose and nozzle connected to one of said valves and from there upon the surface to be oiled.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

IRA E. SMITH.

\Vitnesses: I

PERCY S. VVEBsTnR, J OSHUA B. WEBSTER. 

